Functional web designs and creative solutions

Check out our adoptable bulldogs, get news, information and more. Enjoy!

http://www.socalbulldogrescue.org

Stay tuned!

Confused, I walked out my front door to see this MAN on his ladder, in my driveway, parked between my cars. Mind you, this is private property! The man was a technician from Charter who seemingly thinks it’s okay to setup his equipment without asking my permission. Apparently he had gone to access the lines on my neighbors lawn, but she had denied him access. So, he logically just moved his ladder around the property line and setup show in my driveway to get to the line. Had he asked my permission, I would have moved the cars so he wouldn’t damage anything. But he didn’t and refused to come down.

When I asked him to come down to speak with me, he responded, “Yes, right away” but his hands continued to work on the wires. He showed no sign of stopping what he was doing and kept working. He had merely given me a response to shut me up, but disregarded my demand to have him come down and show me what he was doing. “Yes, coming right down”, he continued to say.

Needless to say, that infuriated me. The man took another 10 minutes to finish his job on my property before coming down. And when he came down, he walked right past me and my neighbor and disregarded us.

My questions are this:

1. 1) When did my driveway become public property for Charter?
2. 2) How does Charter get off telling their technicians to trespass in order to do their job?
3. 3) What type of job ethic does this company support?
4. 4) Why does Charter continue to have the worst support?

When the man came down the ladder, we chased him to his vehicle (license plate photographed here) and he refused to tell us his name or show his official badge. The only thing he gave us was he was technician 8210 (or 8212).

The man tried to tell us that it was not illegal to access private property. Little did he know that my neighbor is a retired judge and continued to avoid us as if we were the bad guys here. The man showed us his paperwork, stating that he had a work order to do so. There was no clause in it that said he could access my property to work on her lines. If there was, he refused to show us. The fact that he refused to tell us his name, was an indication that he knew he was in the wrong.

I was willing to let this go, but since Charter has done nothing to remedy this situation or issue an apology, I have no choice but to post this here on the Internet for everyone to see.

Charter has the worst service that I’ve ever dealt with. Trespassing takes it to a whole new level. Shame on you!

To be truly creative, Web sites or publications need a font selection to match their design. Yet, finding just the right font on a PC or Mac can sometimes be difficult. Now www.UrbanFonts.com provides a ready source to download fonts for free as well as commercial fonts for users of either both Macs and Windows PCs. And the special touches, like articles, a font blog and a message board, mean users don’t have to just stop by and stock up on fonts. Rather, users can learn about fonts and participate in an online community dedicated to the art and craft of typography.

Of course fonts may not be as exciting or as sexy as the latest in Flash technology, but they can be just as vital to the success of your web design, if not more so, said a company spokesperson. Without the right fonts in place, even the best looking web site can be difficult to navigate and difficult for customers to use.

Urbanfonts.com houses thousands of free fonts and free dingbats in a variety of categories, grouped by use, alphabetically, by author and by popularity. There’s even a list of UrbanFonts favorite fonts. Fonts can be displayed with custom colors and custom text to ensure the font would be suitable in a project before downloading and installing it. Some are serif fonts, some are fun and stylish and still others are in the style of foreign languages. All contribute to implementing successful design strategies. The dingbat section contains symbols to fit a wide variety of needs, from transportation and flowers to smilies and sports.

UrbanFonts contains a series of Web 2.0 enhancements making the site more than just a font catalog. The blog section contains articles with a whole series of ideas for the best way to deploy fonts in a design, including the ideal number to use and the best way to choose a correct font. The blog links to current topics on typography around the web. And the discussion forum lets readers ask questions and share their experiences using and designing fonts. All pages can be bookmarked using popular social bookmarking services.

Reinvigorate design and document design and visit UrbanFonts today.

Contact:

UrbanFonts.com

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(PRWEB) August 2, 2005

Veenix Software, the developer of “Veenix Font Tools” and “Veenix Design & Type Tools” for Macintosh, announced today the addition of several new features to its highly acclaimed Visual Font Management System, a robust and innovative, yet easy-to-use WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) font organizing, activating, viewing and printing system for both installed and uninstalled fonts. The Visual Font Management System is included in the company’s font related products, “Veenix Font Tools” and “Veenix Design & Type Tools”, and the new features outlined below apply to both software titles.

New Features of the Visual Font Management System:

New color coded font-type icons in the Font List allow the user to quickly identify whether a font is TrueType, PostScript, a DFont, or an OpenType font.

Font path information of the physical font file is now displayed in the “Display Area” of the Font List window. Users can “toggle” between showing the path information for a selected font and the general info for the font.

New font categorizing pop-up menus in the Font List window allow users to quickly categorize fonts directly from the Font List window. Users simply click on a font in the list and then select appropriate categories from the pop-ups. “This is absolutely one of the fastest ways to categorize your fonts,” says Veenix president Deb Lake. “We identified and categorized over 600 image fonts from a list of approximately 5000 fonts in about 20 minutes. I don’t think it gets much faster or easier than that.”

A new “Options” menu in the Font List window allows users to perform the following font actions: add/remove fonts to/from the database, activate/deactivate/install fonts, reveal fonts in the Finder, edit font categories, print specimen sheets and more.

Users can also now quickly activate or deactivate any font by clicking on the status indicator icon next to font name in the Font List window.

Veenix’s Visual Font Management system is compatible with OS 10.4 (Tiger) and has proven one of the most reliable tools for activating, deactivating and installing fonts on the Mac platform. The innovative font sampling, font comparison and Type Specimen Book printing features of the system have garnered rave reviews from graphics professionals and creative Mac users.

Veenix Font Tools retails for $ 39.95-US and is suitable for anyone who uses fonts on a Mac. Veenix Design & Type Tools retails for $ 49.95-US and offers all the features of Veenix Font Tools plus 15 additional design and production tools. Demo versions, online sales and more information about “Veenix Font Tools” and “Veenix Design & Type Tools” can be found at http://www.veenix.com.

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There are several things in life that you already know and have learned but you seem to forget it because no one tells and reminds you of them. Illustrator Alex from Barcelona has introduced these type of statements by making cute and funny illustrations.

You will probably agree with a lot of them. Speaking of illustrations, another artist has used them to try to express how “the perfect world” could be.

An illustration is a displayed visualization form presented as a drawing, painting, photograph  or other work of art  that is created to elucidate or dictate sensual information (such as a story, poem or newspaper article) by providing a visual representation graphically.

The printed format, whether it is for magazines, newspapers or billboards, sets specific challenges for ad designers. An idea or message must be communicated simply and swiftly, it must be eye-catching enough to grab the viewer’s attention and convey the important information in an instant. When a print designer employs humour to carry this information, the result can be become a visual ‘one-liner’, a joke that speaks the message the ad intends. This post brings together 30 hilarious print ads that combine great imagery with cracking comedy.

1. Bose Noise reduction Headphones: Waterfall

2. Belgian Association for Obese Patients: Encourage Your Children to do More Sport

3. Glassex Window Cleaner: Magician

4. Lazer Cycle Helmets: Hospital

5. Senior Self Defence Academy: Deadly Seniors, Biker

6. Pepsi Twist

7. Timotei: Lion

8. German Olympic Sport Federation: David

9. Nikol Baking Tray: Jacuzzi

10. Softlan Ultra: Wrestling

11. Alka Seltzer: Hangover

12. Kodak Rechargeable Batteries: Tiger

13. Utopolis Group of Cinemas: Titanic

14. Pedigree Light: Flower

15. Kiss FM: iPod Father

16. Listerine Mouthwash: Sermon

17. Pringles Hot and Spicy: Balloon

18. Guinness: Einstein

19. DynaKids Vitamins: Making Kids Stronger

20. Loteria de la Provincia de Buenos Aires: Money

21. Chupa Chups Sugar Free: Ants

22. 3M Scotch Magic Tape: Overload

23. Fibermesh Concrete Reinforcement: Karate

24. Kayaking Jumbo Peanuts: Choking

25. WMF: Sharper Than You Think

26. Maglite: Gallery

27. Nissan: Chickens

28. Nutri Balance: Husband

29. Bare Wet Suits: Stay Down Longer

30. Tolnaftate Cream: Fish

This series is brought to you by the Intel AppUp℠ Developer Program, which provides developers with everything they need to create and then sell their applications to millions of Intel Atom™ processor-based devices and was published on Mashable here. Learn more here.

We’ve also picked up some knowledge about trends in this field. Some of the trends are good; others, regrettable. Others still are simply overused, which is the saddest scenario of them all. We hate to see a good design trick or typeface grow hackneyed over the course of a few months, but it happens all the time, unfortunately.

In this article, we’ve identified 11 trends in web company logo design. Hopefully, you’ll see a few here that apply to the startups and web apps we write about every day. And of course, we’ve included some handy illustrations as a sort of field guide to the logos of the web.

Take a look, and let us know what you think of these trends — and what trends we should have included — in the comments.

1. Badges and Buttons

We’ve moved away from the once-ubiquitious BETA! button, but location-esque badges, app-like icons, and “play” buttons are still showing up all over the web. These logos tend to be quite “shiny,” thanks to a few carefully-blended white gradient layers. The square logos have rounded corners. Some appear to glow as if lit from within, which is a compelling and trendy effect in itself. All in all, the badge-and-button set look quite touchable.

Still, this trend’s days may be numbered, if only due to overuse and association-bordering-on-marriage with the Apple/iPhone brand. See also: Wet floor effect. Unless you’re designing for a pure-play iPhone app shop, sail these seas with caution.

2. Speech Bubbles and Megaphones

If social web apps are all about communication, then it stands to reason that many social web company logos are all about talking. We see fewer logos that revolve around listening (if you happen to see a giant ear logo in the wild, do let us know), but megaphones and speech bubbles abound.

3. Fun With Opacity!

Remember the first time you discovered Multiply () and Overlay blend modes in Photoshop? If that moment changed your life forever, then you probably understand the beauty of a simple, elegant logo that delicately plays with opacity.

While this logo treatment won’t work for every web app, it’s a versatile and timeless way to present classic shapes in a new light. We’re seeing this basic effect used simply in MasterCard-reminiscent designs, and we’re seeing much more complex opacity effects used in logos for HTML5 and Microsoft Silverlight, for example.

Playing with blending modes, opacity and overlapping shapes can also be a fun way to experiment with analogous color schemes.

4. Kawaii Illustration

Calling all woodland creatures: You’re wanted on the Internet (). In fact, the only time you’ve been in greater demand than you are now was when Disney was making those saccharine “princess” films.

Why are these wide-eyed, adorable critters making their way into logo design? Apps () are for adults, right? Especially apps such as Seesmic (), a powerful web app dashboard for power users and the enterprise, and GitHub, an industry standard for source code hosting.

We don’t know exactly how, when or why kawaii made a comeback into serious-business logo design, but with logos this cute, who are we to complain?

5. Scripts, Slabs and Other Cool Fonts

Say it with me: “I will not use Archer for a web company’s logo design.”

Archer and its ilk were used to great effect over the past couple years on a number of memorable web company logos. That being said, the Year of the Slab is definitely not over. In fact, it’s more of an epoch than a traditional Gregorian year at this point. Slab serif fonts — if they’re unique fonts — are still a viable alternative to been-there-done-that sans serifs in logos, and the web community still enjoys them.

That being said, a good, juicy script can be one of the liveliest, most unexpected logo choices yet, particularly if your logo is solely typographic. Rephoria uses my personal favorite, Candy Script, a swash-heavy number that’s almost too voluptuous for work but which still makes the cut for a single-word logo.

Just remember: When using more unusual fonts for logo design, restraint and legibility are key.

6. Verdant and Plant-Inspired

Plants and leaves aren’t just for green tech companies, folks. When you’re trying to project growth, one of the most obvious logo choices is flora. A shy set of leaves, a furling bud, a sprouting seed — what could better convey your company’s fresh problem solving and rapid expansion?

7. Quadrangles

It’s not a rectangle, it’s not a square, but whatever it is, it’s popping up everywhere. Quadrangles are, if the web is to be believed, the new dots. From rhombuses to parallelograms to indescribable yet angular blobs, these shapes strive for post-modern and consumer-friendly.

8. Retro Game References

Perhaps it’s because the newer crop of web designers are also children of the late eighties, but we’ve been seeing a lot of pseudo-retro, video game-inspired logo work lately. While these designs are definitely quirky, geeky and cool, beware using them for a general audience; not everyone feels the same nostalgia we do for an 8-bit, pixelated graphic of a mushroom.

9. Color-Coordinated Compound Words

Web startup names and logos are inextricably linked. We’re a couple years past the compound word phase (which was most virulent right before the tragic “missing vowel” phase that gave birth to web companies with names like “Packg” and “Clevrr”), but we haven’t left behind our love for merged-word logos in two snappy, coordinating colors.

This trick is one of the oldest in the book. It was notably used for Vignelli Associates’ 1967 rebranding of American Airlines, whose two-word name became a one-word logo in red and blue.

10. Logotypes

The big boys of the web, sites such as Google () and Facebook (), have inspired the logo design of a generation with their utter simplicity. In many cases, those initial logotypes were less legitimate logo design and more “put our startup’s name in a simple font and stick it up on the web, we’ll deal with branding later.”

The name-in-a-sans-serif look says your company has nothing to prove and that you focus on product over promotion. If it’s well-executed, it’s a powerful statement to make. However, if poorly executed, it looks hasty, sloppy, juvenile and amateurish.

Logotypes can also be a great excuse to play with exciting typefaces and trendy treatments, such as the embossed or letterpress look that’s getting so much play these days, thanks to CSS3.

11. Nodes, Spokes and Hubs

Between concepts such as linked data and the synaptic web, you had to see these designs coming. They remind us of molecular structure and K’nex, an updated take on the crop of mid-century modern Sputnik-inspired designs of the 1950s. These logos are usually intended to represent the interconnectedness of people and content on the web, or, in a more literal interpretation, computer hardware circuitry.

An excellent study of this concept is Bernard Barry’s designs for the 2010 f8 conference.

What Trends Are You Spotting?

What trends are you seeing in web company logos these days? What are you already sick of, and what do you want to see more? Please share your observations in the comments.

This series is brought to you by the Intel AppUp℠ Developer Program, which provides developers with everything they need to create and then sell their applications to millions of Intel Atom™ processor-based devices. Learn more here.